August 31, 2012
Morgan Whisnant
In the past few years there has been a rise in polio in
Pakistan. From 2010 to 2011 the number of cases rose from 144 to 198. Such a
spike is due to the ban the Taliban has put on United States workers,
forbidding them from coming in the area. The members of the Taliban are afraid
the polio immunizations are a disguise for espionage and therefore will not let
them in the area. In fact, in July a W. H. O. worker was shot and injured and
within days another was killed. Even before the ban, many Pakistanis were
skeptical about the vaccinations. People, especially in tribal areas, feel that
the vaccines are actually a part of the United States’ plan to sterilize
Muslims. Because of this belief about 200,000 children missed their polio
vaccinations in the two years before the ban occurred. Thankfully, Pakistan’s
government is working to help fight this disease stating earlier this year
there would be a fine for parents of unvaccinated children. The Pakistani
government also reached out to religious leaders in Saudi Arabia asking them to
enact fatwas, rulings given by someone of religious authority on the
interpretation of Islamic law. The success of this is important in saving
people from polio, but is also critical in showing the Taliban cannot control
the Pakistan government like a puppet. The good news is in 2012 so far only 72
cases have been reported, but this progress is threatened as polio viruses were
recently found in sewage in Bahadur, and Karachi (where unsanitary conditions
make the spread of the disease more likely). Many people travel to the city for
work and run the risk of contracting the disease and taking it back to their
home areas. The president of Pakistan, Asif Zardari, is will lead a meeting on Saturday
to assess the polio situation in the country. Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria
are the only three countries that have not yet eliminated the disease.
The summary is well done, but I cannot see where you have done an analysis. It's not clear from this presentation. On future blogs you may want to split the blog into sections to make it a little more clear.
ReplyDelete